The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact

Figure 1

Food Supply, Intake, and Waste in America.

(A) The average adult body weight (Δ) as measured by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (B). Per capita U.S. food availability unadjusted (○) and adjusted for wastage (▪) according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The solid curve represents the mathematical model prediction of average food intake change (dashed curves indicate±95% confidence intervals). (C) Energy content of per capita U.S. food waste predicted using our mathematical model (solid curve, left axis). The right axis plots the per capita annual mass of municipal solid food waste (▴). (D) Percentage of available food energy wasted as calculated by previous USDA estimates (▪) and predicted using our mathematical model (solid curve).